This investigation was conducted primarily to compare the influence of an internal, controllable, unstable orientation with that of other orientations on self-concept of ability (SCOA), intrinsic motivation, performance, and expectations of performance during perceived failure. Male and female seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students (N = 332) responded to a SCOA questionnaire. Based on the response to this questionnaire, 42 low and 42 high SCOA subjects were selected to participate in this study. Separately, the low and high SCOA subjects each randomly assigned to one of three causal dimension orientation groups, with restrictions on gender and grade, were oriented to perceive their performance on a stabilometer balancing task as due to (1) internal, controllable, unstable factors (ICU); (2) internal, uncontrollable, stable factors (IUS); or (3) nothing in particular (NDO). Participants then received fictitious normative feedback over 15 trials, suggesting they had performed below average compared to other seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students. Dependent variables included (1) persistence (intrinsic motivation) with the experimental task, (2) expectancies, (3) performance scores, (4) responses to a Causal Dimension Scale, and (5) responses to a SCOA scale. The persistence, expectancies, and performance dependent measures were significant considering SCOA. Causal dimension orientations were also significant. More specifically, the High SCOA group persisted longer, had higher expectations, and performed significantly better than the Low SCOA group. Furthermore, the ICU group persisted for a longer amount of time, revealed higher expectations over trials, and performed significantly better over trials than the IUS and NDO groups. In addition, the results for the Causal Dimension scale revealed that the dimensional orientations appeared to influence the / internal and stable dimensions. The results of this investigation were discussed in terms of the benefits of internal, controllable, and unstable dimensions on cognitive and behavioral parameters for individuals either high or low in SCOA. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-09, Section: A, page: 2620. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75655 |
| Contributors | RUDISILL, MARY E., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 196 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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